Kokum Sharbat – a refreshing summer drink

This is easy peasy provided you have the main ingredient! Heavenly Kokum.

It is a seasonal fruit found quite easily in Maharashtra – Mumbai, etc. Although I haven’t seen it being sold in the fresh form in north India. Here is a quick guide on what it is.

So to make the sharbat or concentrate – which you can serve by adding cold water – when you want to drink it, start with soaking the kokum in warm water. Take about 150 gm and soak in a glass of warm water. Give it a whizz in the blender and strain. To the liquid – add ground pepper, ground cumin (make sure both are dry roasted first), kala namak (translated to black salt), 5 tbsp of sugar and mix well. Strain and store upto a week.

The beauty of this fruit is the color. It has a strong blackish red color – which when diluted becomes a lovely red. Quite exquisite. This fruit has a number of health benefits and is used extensively in the local cuisine of Maharashtra.